Depression Counselling In Vancouver
Hi there, our team of Registered Clinical Counsellors, Canadian Certified Counsellors and Registered Social Workers offer grief counselling across British Columbia, Canada.
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You may no longer be interested in what you used to, feeling incompetent or sad about your declining health. We hear you, and are here to help.
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We have a passion for helping people courageously change - feel less depressed, numb or down - through emotional awareness and resilience, mindfulness, and evidence-based practices. Ultimately, we want you to feel better.
If you’re curious about creating a change, schedule a free phone consultation today.
Our approach to depression counselling in Vancouver
Depression is a mood change that happens to many of us. In Canada, 1 in 5 people will personally experience a mental health challenge, and approximately 8% of Canadian adults will experience major depression at some point in their lives. Depression is not uncommon, but still stigmatized. Like other mental health challenges, depression can change the way we perceive life events and change our decision making. For example, while you might believe in the helping nature of counselling therapy, having depression can change your energy level, motivation, sleep or even your ability to take care of basic needs (like bathing and eating), which impact your ability to seek out support.
A different way of understanding depression that has helped us over the years, and that is borrowed from the Polyvagal Theory and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), is understanding depression as a shutdown or hibernation mode. We have come to appreciate this perspective of depression because it helps explain its symptoms as a defense, a coping mechanism, from emotional overwhelm.
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Depression can be understood as a withdrawal from the world, an apathy for things and activities, a low energetic state, a pessimism, and a disconnection from self and others. If we come to understand depression as a defense we can start to appreciate the power of this mood change.
Depression can be seen as the last coping mechanism to get away from what has hurt us, from what is painful, or what we no longer can withstand. In a depressed state, our body-mind believes it is protecting us; even suicidal thoughts can be understood as defenses from the self. It may not be that someone wants to die, but rather find an out from the current pain.
While there are a lot of self-help resources and tools that one can do to improve their depressed mood, sometimes a powerful way to turn depression around is by going to counselling. To help your depression in counselling, we will explore your story, make connections between past, present and future experiences, uncover new truths, and start healing and resolving what is keeping you down. Together we will have the opportunity to integrate mindfulness, somatic experiencing, emotional awareness while using evidence-based practices, such as person-centred therapy, accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), internal family systems (IFS, sensorimotor psychotherapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
If you have any questions about this perspective of depression help in Vancouver, feel free to get in touch.
Depression Help and Counselling FAQs
What are general methods used to treat depression?
Depression, like other mental health issues, can be treated through different approaches. Some people take a more medical route, making an appointment with their family doctor (or GP), taking an assessment (like the Beck Depression Inventory - BDI), talking to their doctor about their results, and if wanted, starting antidepressants (medication to treat depression). Other people might consult with their doctor and seek out other therapies, such as Naturopathic Medicine, mindfulness-based support groups, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), or other psychotherapies, like cognitive processing therapy (CPT), accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). There are multiple ways of treating depression, being open to many treatment and support possibilities will lead to greater success in alleviating depression.
Which form of therapy is most effective for major depression?
Historically cognitive behavioural therapies (like CBT, CT, CPT) were popularized for treating major depression, depression and other mental health challenges. In the last few decades, many other reputable and evidence-based therapies have become quite successful and effective in treating depression and other mental health challenges. For instance, some of the interpersonal therapies that we practice, like accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) and internal family systems (IFS), have found great results in helping and relieving depressive moods.
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Does depression counselling really help?
Yes - depression counselling can be very helpful in improving mood and overall quality of life. However it is very important to find a counselling style and counsellor that fits you. Counselling therapy is not a one-size-fits-all model, but rather more of a one-size-fits-one model. This means that some people may ‘shop around’ for the right therapy and counsellor in order to really gain the benefits of counselling. It is normal to try a few different counselling therapy styles and counsellors along the way. It is also important to note that what works at one point in time may no longer work at a different point in time, and so being open to different styles and types of support is really vital to getting the results that you want and deserve.
Is Counselling free in Canada?
There are some organizations and programs in Canada that offer free counselling. However free counselling services are not the norm. What is more common is to have organizations, clinics and counsellors in private practice offer sliding scale options so that counselling is made more accessible. For instance as a private practice counsellor, we offer a sliding scale option and work with clients to find the fee that works for us both. If you would like to learn more about free counselling options, low-cost counselling options or sliding scale options please contact me for more information.
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Get depression help in Vancouver from a Registered Clinical Counsellor
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We know taking the first step to getting support is hard. Thank you for being here.
“Shopping around” for a counsellor is normal, and it can take some time to find the right one. If you feel a tad bit curious about us or our counselling services, please reach out for a free 15 minutes phone consultation.
